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If you can’t find Shameless CD’s available for purchase, or don’t want to pay expensive import prices, you can now buy them all through I-Tunes. Queen 4 A Day, Famous 4 Madness, Backstreet Anthems, Splashed & Super Hardcore Show are available now. You can listen to some songs at the Shameless myspace page here.

Wendy Dio is very excited to tell you about a Christmas metal CD that she, Bob Kulick and Brett Chassen have been working on since June, entitled “We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year”.

This is a METAL CD you will want to listen to all year round.

Wendy says, “It has been a very exciting and exhausting project, but we have managed to get an all star cast together.

”The hardest person to get was Ronnie himself, as he told Wendy he doesn’t sing Christmas songs, but after Wendy hounded him for days, he finally listened to the arrangement Bob had come up with for “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, decided he liked it, added a few bits, recorded it at Bob’s studio, and then said that it needed Tony Iommi’s signature guitar sound. Wendy then sent the track over to Tony, who also liked the track, and behold! You have a very Sabbath Christmas song.

Also rounding out the circle of familiar characters on this track are Dio bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Simon Wright.

All of the tracks on the record are awesome and definitely have Wendy’s stamp of approval.

No word on when this will be released, but I am guessing this will be out in time for the ’08 Christmas Holiday Season.

“The End Begins” is an appropriate title for Tantric’s first album in four years. After recording the follow-up to 2004’s “After We Go” the band watched as the album was shelved and forgotten by Maverick Records. This eventually led to the three original members, Jesse Vest, Todd Whitener, and Matt Taul walking away leaving vocalist Hugo Ferreira to soldier on alone. Instead of fighting to get “Tantric III” released Ferreira decided to start fresh with new members Kevin Miller, formerly of Fuel, on drums, Erik Leonhardt on bass, Marcus Ratzenboeck on electric violin (???) and guitarist Joe Pessia, who had previously played in Dramagods with none other than Nuno Bettencourt and Kevin Figueiredo from Extreme.

Everything gets started with “Regret”, which sounds a like bit like “the Cult meets Cold” with the opening guitar and Ferreira’s vocal style. Joe Pessia may not have the worshippers of the Guitar Gods bowing at his feet, but he is able to pull off a nice solo and after a couple of listens you will find yourself tapping your feet and playing air drums on the steering wheel as you are driving down the road.

Next up is the lead off single and video “Down & Out”, I think the song stands much better by itself than with the video which is the way it is supposed to be. It took me a while to get into the song because it reminds me of the rap/rock days which I am not very fond of. Electric violinist, Marcus Ratzenboeck makes the most of his chance to stand in the rock n’ roll spotlight with a nice piece of playing throughout.

The third track “the One” was originally recorded for the afore mentioned Tantric III. Ferreira decided to recut the track as a duet with Candlebox’s Kevin Martin. Both singers go back and forth trading the lyrics which in my opinion works as “the One” is my favorite song on this album and it should be a big hit on Modern Rock Radio.

I was a little turned off by the jazz feel of “Love Song” but it picks up at the chorus after which I found myself able to get into it a little more. A few other songs I was able to get into were Wishing, Lucky One, Why Don’t You, and Lay.

Now “The End Begins” isn’t going to change the rock n’ roll world, but then again I can only think of a handful of bands or artists that have ever done that. What this release is going to give the fans of “post grunge” music and rock in general is a pretty solid performance from beginning to end. If you were a fan of Tantric before you will be a fan after hearing “the End Begins” if you weren’t a fan before, Ferreira and his boys might be able to open your ears with some nice musicianship throughout.

FINALLY, AFTER 20 YEARS – FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ON CD ARE THE ONLY RECORDING’S OF L.A’S ‘SUNSET STRIP’ BASED HAIR METAL BAND “PAIR-A-DICE”!!

PAIR-A-DICE best known for there days on the Sunset Strip in the 80’s the band developed a huge following, and played with many of L.A.’s hottest bands like: Poison, Warrant, Guns N Roses, LA Guns, Slaughter, Bang Tango, Jet Boy, Tuff, Pretty Boy Floyd and many more.

Retrospect Records has signed the band and has released for the first time ever on CD recordings of Pair-A-Dice including such live hits as “Stay the Night’ “Nowhere to Run” and the classic crowd favorite “Where’s Jenny” Pair A Dice has been described as Warrant meets Skid Row with searing guitar solos and large vocal harmonies.

Founding members Paul Lancia (vocals) and Nick Masella (bass) started Pair-A-Dice together in 1986 at the peak of the Glam/Poison era on the strip. Daz Bash (drums) joined soon after, followed by Billy D’Vette (guitar, vocals) and Dave Marshall (guitar, vocals).

This solidified the line up that went onto becoming one of the most exciting live bands on the Sunset Strip from 1986 to 1990. The next several years saw this hard rockin band selling out shows at clubs such as: ‘The Whiskey a Go Go, ‘The Troubadour’, ‘The Roxy’, Gazzari’s , and included a tour of Japan with fellow Sunset Strip band Jet Boy in 1989. The band was looked at by every major label in Hollywood but unfortunately the band was never signed to a multi record contract and the songs have been locked away in a vault, until now!

In 1990 Paul started his own self-titled project: ‘Lancia’, Billy D’Vette stepped in as lead singer but this was short lived and soon after, the remaining members of Pair-A-Dice all tried their luck with other project: Dave Marshall went on to play with The Vince Neil Band with Steve Stevens, Brunette and Fiona. Billy replaced Marc Ferrari in Cold Sweat. Nick played with Ashes II Ashes, and Daz played on Alice Cooper’s “Line on You” Video.
NOW with the release of the long awaited CD debut the band has reunited with all five original members for the first time. They recently performed at the 2008 Rocklahoma Festival along with a few select shows in Los Angeles. The band also plan to release a live performance DVD and a follow up CD in 2009.

Twenty years is a long wait, but, with the rejuvenated rock scene making the rise to the top again, you will not only get to hear these boys, but see them play once again.

It has been 4 long years since Slipknot’s last studio album. “All Hope is Gone” is rumored to be (say it isn’t so!) their last album. Slipknot’s fan base has swelled to massive proportions over the years, and judging from the live show that I saw by them recently, this is a band that needs to continue.

“All Hope is Gone” pushes Slipknot further away from the Nu metal genre, and more towards the heavy and thrash metal side. This album is extremely heavy. With that being said, most hard rock fans may dislike this, but metal heads will rejoice when they play this.

There are moments where this album is heavy as hell, and there are a couple of songs that seem to fall closer to Corey Taylor’s other band Stone Sour. In fact, the song “Snuff” is an acoustic based song, that is probably the least heavy song Slipknot has ever done. This tune seems to fall much closer to Stone Sour than anything Slipknot has done. I like this tune a lot, but the maggots (Slipknot fans) are going to flip out when they hear this.

One listen to “Sulfer” and I thought wow to myself. What an incredible feast of metal this is. “Psychosocial” might be one of the coolest Slipknot tunes ever. The awesome groove on this tune had me hooked immediately.

Is it just me or do I hear “Metallica’s Enter Sandman” creeping its way into “Dead Memories”? This song sounds like a blend of Metallica and Tool. This song is more of a mainstream metal tune. Some songs on this disc such as “Gehenna”, “Dead Memories”, “Snuff” and “All Hope Is Gone” will get a ton of radio air play. The rest may be far too heavy for terrestrial radio formats.

Is “All Hope is Gone” Slipknot’s best work? While it has some great moments, I don’t think this disc stands up to their album Iowa. While Iowa is still my favorite, I think Slipknot fans will like this. The band hasn’t put out an album this brutal since their 1999 debut.

The sound on All Hope is Gone falls some where in between Iowa and Vol. 3. There are things missing on All Hope is Gone that disappoints me. The cool percussion and drums of Chris Fehn and Shawn Crahan are back on the song “Psychosocial”, but seem to be missing elsewhere. I didn’t hear a lot of samples or use of the turntables on this record either. There are a lot more guitar solos on this record than on past releases which is a nice addition. As a whole, this is Slipknot’s sound moving in a slightly new direction. “All Hope is Gone” is another solid effort and is worth picking up.

Jeff’s promotions guy, Richard Mace has created another stunning and imaginative cover for Jeff Scott Soto’s new solo album. Incorporating the theme of global destruction and the decay of humanity, this cover exemplifies the paradox of the beautiful mess, that is Jeff’s own career. As enjoyable as it has been, he has indeed had his share of highs and lows and continues to pursue, with determination and relish, his own personal dream and ambition.

There were a few different bands that I wanted to see during the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival in Indianapolis, but there were none that I wanted to see more than one of my new favorites, Airbourne.

I have seen Airbourne play twice already in 2008, once in Lexington, KY, and again in Cincinnati, Ohio. When it was time for Airbourne’s set, I made my way as close as I could get to the front of the stage. They didn’t draw the larger crowds that some of the cookie monster sounding bands had, but once Airbourne started playing, the crowd came in a hurry.

One of the bad things about the Mayhem festival is that each band on the side stages only got 30 – 40 minutes to play. For Airbourne it seemed closer to 30, but they made the best of it. Their short set included the tunes, “Stand Up For Rock ‘N’ Roll“, “Fat City“, “Girls in Black“, and “Running Wild“. During the middle of the song, “Girls in Black”, lead singer, and guitar player Joel O’Keefe jumped down into the crowd and continued to play while being surrounded in a pit of people. Not only was the cool, but it really got the crowd going. Their set may have been short, but it was certainly electric. Airbourne may be a newer band, but they know how to rock a crowd!

After the show, I was able to meet the members of Airbourne, and talk to Joel O’Keefe. Finally getting to meet Airbourne, was the highlight of the day so far at the Mayhem festival, but I still had a few more bands to watch before the day was out. I will post more on the other acts soon at the Mayhem festival soon. Until then, enjoy the live videos from Airbourne below.

“Fuck off and Die”, the new video from Swedish sleaze rockers BACKYARD BABIES, can be viewed below. The song comes off the group’s new, self-titled album, which is scheduled for release on August 18 via Billion Dollar Babies/Spinefarm.

Jeff Scott Soto will be singing on the upcoming Trans-Siberian Orchestra Winter Tour beginning Nov 1. Jeff will be part of the West Coast production (as TSO are split in 2) so all the dates will appear on his sites accordingly. Jeff is thrilled to be part of this tour as it is an introduction to future appearances with TSO including the new album Night Castle.

Inspired by Johnny Thunders and his old New York Dolls, add the agressivity from Backyard Babies (and sometimes, from Sex Pistols), the theatrical art from Alice Cooper and the sex appeal from Mötley Crüe in the late 80′ and what you get? Yeah, something close to BASTARDZ!

Ass No Pass, the first EP, lead us to the video from “PILLS”, recorded in 2005 and exposed on MTV with lots of positive critics and a second video, “Alleycat Spoiled Brat”, with scenes from places where the guys have been topromote No Ass No Pass.

In 2006, BASTARDZ was invited to performed at the 1st. Metal Sludge Xtravaganza Brazil, a party from the famous American rock website Metal Sludge. In this edition, BASTARDZ was the support band for the lead singers Steve Summers (Pretty Boy Floyd) and Stevie Rachelle (Tuff), who claimed BASTARDZ to be “the new Guns N Roses!”

And when you think “ok, they had a great year”, there is more to come!

Quiet Riot’s former axeman, Carlos Cavazo will be joining RATT as of August 27th. More importantly, he will be with the band, when RATT takes the stage in front of thousands of people at Rock The Bayou!

Houston’s own Stubbs Harley Davidson and Republic Harley Davidson are revved up for Rock The Bayou! On Saturday, August 30, 2008, Republic Harley Davidson and Stubbs Harley Davidson invite you to ride in style to Rock The Bayou. Hop on your hog, head out to either of the participating Harley Davidson locations in Houston, Texas (see locations and meet/ride-out times below), and get ready to ride.

Chicago’s D’Molls formed in the mid 80’s and secured a recording deal before many of the glam metal bands from the late 80’s early 90’s metal acts made a name for themselves.

Like many of the bands of the era, D’Molls never really caught on, except with the hard core sleaze/glam metal fans.

The music on Warped reminds me of a heavier edged Poison, with raspier vocals from Desi Rexx, and better back up vocals.

There are quite a few cool songs that I think hair metal fans would enjoy including “Real Love”, “Centerfold Girl”(which you can hear below)”, and “Passion” S.S. Priest’s guitar work on this disc is way above average on Warped. This CD made me want to find more stuff that he has played on.

The music may not be original, but it does rock. Their isn’t a bad song on this disc.

Warped, and the D’Molls self titled debut from 1988, are becoming increasingly harder to find, are selling for large sums on eBay. In fact, if you need a quick fix of D’Molls, you may be better served by their greatest hits CD, The Best of Everything, which is available through CDBaby. Happy Hunting!!

Metallica have just released the first single off their upcoming album, Death Magnetic. The epic track is entitled “The Day That Never Comes” and it’s now available through iTunes. The band recently filmed a video for the track with Danish film director Thomas Vinterberg which will premiere soon. Check out the track which is now streaming on Metallica.com.

Thanks to Locomotive Records, the excellent Babylon Bombs Release, Doin’ You Nasty has been released in the United States. If you liked the music, but didn’t want to pay the high import prices, now you don’t have to. You can secure your own cop of Doin’ You Nasty through Amazon.com.

Hinder have unveiled a new widget that will be featuring a new video interview each week till the release of their next album, Take it to the Limit on November 4th. So far, the widget includes 3 interview clips that feature Austin Winkler (vocals) and Cody Hanson (drums) their manager Kevin “Chief” Zaruk plus producer Brian Howes (Puddle of Mudd, Rev Theory). So far, the videos include interviews about the band’s humble beginnings, how the band was discovered and the recording of their new album.

Nancy, France, or isn’t known for many hard rock and heavy metal acts. EdenSands looks to change that with their new release Living Kills. In their music, I hear bits of progressive and maybe a dash of power metal, but no question about it, EdenSands are a heavy metal act. The guitar styling is very similar to mid 80’s heavy metal, and I hear an Iron Maiden influence in the music. The vocals of Stefan Tudela are often high pitched. His voice seems to soar above the music more often than not. His voice has a strong accent which is quite noticeable.

There is a moment on this album, where EdenSands treads into Screamo territory on the song “Scream”. I don’t care for this style, but this may be a song for modern rock fans to get into.

I kept looking for some stand out tracks on this album, and I found those in the rocking tune, “Run”, and the ballad “From Dark to Light”. These are easily the best songs on the album. In the case of the song “From Dark to Light”, Tudela’s voice is showcased well. After hearing this song, I think his voice may be better suited for more acoustic based rock, than metal the tunes of EdenSands. For this listener, his high pitched voice doesn’t match up well with the heavy tunes of Living Kills. The band itself is quite good, and this album shows a lot of potential for future success. EdenSands will be a band to keep an eye on the future.

GYPSY PISTOLEROS will cement their position as the top flamenco Glam Sleaze group ever as they headline the Second stage at Rock the Bayou Festival Sunday 1st September 8.05-9.15 PM just before Bret Michaels !
Gypsy Pistoleros recieved an amazing response on their recent U.S Tour! Rocklahoma, South Texas Rock Festival & The Whisky a Go Go dates rank as highlights, as do the Tour with good friends Dirty Penny!!

The Pistoleros will enter the studios next week to begin recording the all important second album , tentatively titled ‘The Good, The Bad and the Gypsy Pistoleros!’ Twenty two new tracks have been written, Pistoleros own Tommy Gun will be handling production duties!

It will be recorded in Kidderminster, Los Angeles & London! Release is scheduled for May !

Gypsy Pistoleros will at last begin Touring the U.K & Europe in November!!!!